S01.E01: Non Est Asylum

[Tara Ariano]

A seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult gets pulled back into battling the worst hell has to offer in order to help the daughter of an old friend—and because there's the slightest possibility of saving his own damned soul—in the premiere of this supernatural thriller inspired by the DC comic book series "Constantine."

[Primetimer]

Another comic-book property hits the small screen, but how hard?

Read the story

[merylinkid]

I work alone, but face it who would want to do this with me?   Me, I would.   totally.

 

Oh man, his father was a piece of work wasn't he?

 

I'm in.   As long as they don't sex it up.   I'm totally cool with just Demon of the Week.    And face it, the Big Bad is pretty much a given here.

[Morrigan2575]

I liked it, good pairing with Grimm. Wasn't too fond of Liv but it looks like she isn't going to be around. I hope the crazy Professor guy is going to be around during the season, I liked him.

I'm also curious about the angel, he's interesting but his interaction with Constantine wasn't as I expected based on the movie and the WBSDCC panel. However, this is just the pilot so there's plenty of time to develop the relationship.

[Hana Chan]

Well, as someone who read Hellblazer for a lot of years (well past the point when I stopped collecting comics), I'm petty well pleased. It wasn't a flawless premiere, but it had me engaged the entire time. It's not easy to introduce the complicated mythology of the comics and the events that lead John to this point (we got a very sanitized version of the Newcastle event), but it did more than an adequate job.

 

Matt Ryan makes a pretty damned good John and captured the character's sardonic wit perfectly (along with his world weariness). Demons were suitably demonic and Manny the angel was suitably dickish and I loved seeing Chaz and Richie (old allies from the comic). The one weak spot was Liv and I was glad that apparently the showrunners decided to get rid of her character. I supposed that they were stuck with her for the first episode, but the last scene was apparently changed to write her out neatly. Not sorry to see her go.

 

So the show seems off to a strong start. Looking forward to seeing how they translate some of the storylines from the comics to the tv screen and how dark the show can go.

[benteen]

I thought it was alright.  Matt Ryan is terrific in the main role and I thought Liv was fine but that's not going to matter now.

[Actionmage]

I'm in!

 

I love Chas and Ritchie. John motored over to Ivy University; could Ray Palmer have a building? *g* 

 

Liv was okay. I do hope that she can pop in from time to time. She obviously has powers and could be a reluctant help here and there.

 

Yes, please put down Dr. Fate's helm; the Guardians of Order are a persnickety group.

 

Floving John/ Matt Ryan. He has the 'this effing world' feel to him that's just right. I'm still processing, but two things:

1. This is a perfect fit with Grimm; thank you NBC programmer who saw this as a no-brainer pairing!

2. I can hardly wait for next week!

[Bruinsfan]

I wasn't too impressed with the writing for the pilot, but Matt Ryan is hitting all the right notes as Constantine.

[cynic]

I liked it enough to give it a few more episodes. I'm glad they wrote out Liv at the end though, because the actress sucked. She was even worse than the lady on the Blacklist and that's saying a lot!

[AuntTora]

Meh. Some things I liked quite well -- thalia on the hood of the car post-crash was the creepiest thing I've seen in a while! But I didn't care for the lead actor. Too Gordon Ramsey.

[Rickster]

As people whose only reference point is having seen the Keanu Reeves movie, my girlfriend and I both really disliked this and didn't make it through the first episode. In particular, we didn't care for the lead actor, or perhaps how his role was written. I might give the second episode a chance to see if things improve from the pilot, but if not, I'm out.

[snowblossom2]

I too only saw the KR movie and not too impressed. I know it may be a stylistic choice but his outfit and the taxi being so clean and spotless really irritated me. As does his obviously dyed/unnatural blond hair. If he's so world weary why on earth would he get his hair dyed?! Just have the actor use his natural darker hair. Sorry, I know these may seem trivial but I couldn't concentrate on anything else, the crispness and cleanliness of his white button down shirt - even after being in a car accident or out in the rain - brings me to rage

Edited bc say and saw are not the same words

Edited October 25, 2014 by snowblossom2

[snowblossom2]

Also, I never thought I'd say this, but this show makes me realize how smartly written Supernatural was (I stopped watching two seasons ago so can't say anything recently) - why on earth would John assume that the demon holding the little 'girl' and promising to set her free was actually holding the little girl's soul? What a stupid idea (per Dicky Bennett's exposition) to summon a bigger demon to drag a smaller demon away, no wonder it failed. Say what you will but Sam and Dean never took demons at their words!

[Hana Chan]

why on earth would John assume that the demon holding the little 'girl' and promising to set her free was actually holding the little girl's soul? What a stupid idea (per Dicky Bennett's exposition) to summon a bigger demon to drag a smaller demon away, no wonder it failed.

 

 

Because that is exactly what happened in the comics. As I said previously, the show is giving us a very sanitized version of what happened at Newcastle. In the comics, Astra was the daughter of an Alistair Crowley type figure who was horrifically sexually abused and called down a demon to kill her tormentors during a sex-magic orgy that she was at the center of. That demon proceeded to rape and rip apart her parents and everyone at the orgy. John was filled with his own arrogance about being powerful magician and thought that he could control the demon that he was summoning. He obviously couldn't and Astra was dragged to Hell as the price for John's arrogance (and for the sin of summoning a demon herself, even if her actions were in self-defense).

 

John would be the first to admit that it was a stupid idea. Which is why he punished himself by being committed (in the comic he wasn't willingly committed and spent his time at Ravenscar being tortured by the staff who thought that he murdered Astra). And why he now mocks his title of "Master of the Dark Arts". His knowledge and skill as a magician are very hard won.

 

I can understand why those who are only familiar with the KR film would be confused by the portrayal of John here. Those of us who read the comics and then saw the KR film were frustrated because the character was such a complete departure from the way John is portrayed in the comics. The tv series is keeping the characterization much closer to the comic,

where John was known by nicknames like "The Laughing Magician" and a "Rake at the Gates of Hell". John was known for his dark, sharp wit that insulted everyone, used people rather ruthlessly because he saw the big picture (and accepted that there was no way to win the war against Heaven and Hell (who he saw equally as enemies of humanity) without collateral damage.

 

The clunkiest parts of the episode were when John was trying to explain things to Liv (and the audience) and it's hard when you have a source as rich as the Hellblazer comics are to get the tv audience up to speed about the basics in an hour. And I appreciated the subtle use of special effects and showing that real magic is rooted in the will of the magician and not flashing lights and CGI effects.

Edited October 25, 2014 by SilverStormm
Comic spoilers tagged.

[SimoneS]

I so wanted to like this, but I was bored throughout. I don't think that the lead is very good. Harold Perrineau is such a good actor, much than the lead. It is so damn unfair that he had to take these marginal supporting roles. Anyway, I changed the channel to X Men: First Class for a bit and forgot to change it back.

[DittyDotDot]

As someone who never read the Hellblazer comics or saw the movie, I'm not totally won over yet. It's a pilot and has a lot of ground to cover, but they covered soooo much ground in so little time. I also think they spent a lot of time and money on special effects--which were fine, IMO--but I didn't really feel like they did a good job of introducing us to the characters. I don't know, I'm a bit underwhelmed by it all.

 

However, I think it has potential and I agree with the poster above, Harold Perrineau was a delight to see. I'll probably stick it out for a couple more episodes and see if they work out some of the kinks.

[Knittzu]

I'm glad they wrote out Liv at the end though, because the actress sucked. She was even worse than the lady on the Blacklist and that's saying a lot!

 

 

Same here. I really enjoyed the pilot, especially Matt Ryan and Harold Perrineau, but wasn't sure if I wanted to watch another show where the lead spends half of each episode giving exposition to his newbie sidekick. Especially when the newbie is played by such an iffy actor. In this case, I was having terrible flashbacks to Gwen.

 

I admire the showrunners for realizing there was a problem and deciding to change things. They've made it harder on themselves to explain this world to the audience, and it will be fun to see what approaches they take. They already have plenty of challenges on their hands in translating the sort of stories Hana Chan described above into network-friendly viewing.

[Enigma X]

I have not seen the movie or read the comics. Although, I found some things not working for me and was not as entertained as I had hoped, I am still in for now. 

I have not seen the movie or read the comics. Although, I found some things not working for me and was not as entertained as I had hoped, I am still in for now. 

[Actionmage]

While I saw the movie (and thought it was fine, just given the wrong title due to the lead not being John Constantine in any way), I enjoyed the pilot a whole bunch more.

 

I would complain about the way the mental institution was shown, then I remembered that John works in the nasty places of the world. So, for this show, I hold my tongue. If John goes to a more...modern facility in order to help, I hope the production gets it right.

 

That eye on the laptop freaked me the eff out! I hate stuff like that. I went to IMDb later to check on someone and the screen dimmed. I swore at the screen and vowed to punch someone if that damn eye came up! *g* (Constantine was being promoted on the site yesterday. Yay!) 

 

I hope we get to visit The Millhouse lots! That was great. Not only for the bust (I hope) of Swamp Thing's head, but also the helm of Dr. Fate. That mirror was cool. I hope Liv gave the keys back to John, or at least Chas. 

 

I loved the raindrop effects. They were fun ( the swipe) and pretty (the collapse of the closer drops around John and Manny.) The column of fire was appropriately impressive, but best kept to the long shot. (More money for later!) 

 

I chalked John's belief that it truly was Astra, at the end of the ep, to his guilt. He is 9/10 times smarter than that without trying. The age of the girl and her connection to a friend, in addition to what he believes about his own soul?  It would add up to being hard to ignore. That's why Liv was needed for the pilot. To awaken to the responsibilities of her power(s) and to help save John from his own guilt.  John seemed pretty hacked off that that demon used Astra's form, so maybe that will be the end of Astra-teasing for a few episodes hopefully. The little girl is appealing, but she is there to torment John about his past mistakes. Let's pull back on that until Christmas or the season finale, okay? 

 

I enjoyed seeing the skulls primarily as light flashed. That was a nice effect and sort of subtle. Thinking back, I am not sure if the guard was possessed in the  lightbulb glowing scene or not. He was complaining about losing his highest score, but the bulb was almost fully glowing by then.

 

The Nana scene? Very gross! I am a Grimm and Hannibal watcher. This ep was relatively tame compared to what Hannibal implied as well as showed. They may not be able to go full Vertigo ( the imprint of DC that publishes John's print adventures), but they can go a little further than they did tonight and not get into too much S&P bs. ( Standards & Practices, aka the censors, the folks that count swears and which ones and how much blood is okay red-colored before you have to go black and white.)

 

The Husband countered that two superheroes were already hinted at, but I said that really only one. I conceded Dr. Fate, but Swamp Thing is a literal Force of Nature, not given to taking down megalomaniacs or petty crooks.  I doubt there will be crime-stopping of the usual kind if Fate shows though. 

 

If you are unsure about John's bad hair job, all you need to do is Google images of John Constantine to see that how spot on Matt Ryan's look is.

 

Hana Chan, how do you feel about a certain mage named Tim showing up?

[Irishmaple]

I was intrigued by the premise of the show, but had no previous exposure to either the Keanu Reeves movie or the graphic novels, and I wasn't disappointed.  It's 10pm on a Friday night, I've worked a long week and all I require is something to entertain me.  It succeeded.  I liked it enough to come back next week. 

 

Matt Ryan was really good.  I bought his reluctant dedication to his work, his guilt over the lost girl and his dark sense of humour.  Harold Perrineau never disappoints, not even in Z Nation, so it's always good to see him.  I liked his back-up guys, especially Dickie Bennett (he'll never be anyone else to me now)  Liv didn't bother me much.  She seemed competent and I wouldn't have minded seeing her again.  The amulet was interesting, and the scene where Liv's eyes were opened to the souls wandering the world was creepy.  Very 'I see dead people' but delivered well.  The demon effects were eye-catching, particularly when Thalia was lurking on the roof of the morgue van and then with her head through the windscreen.  The artist at the end was an intriguing touch.  Is she going to replace Liv with shades of Mystery Sock (for those who watched Heroes back when it was good) 

[shimarella]

So far so good, I got pulled in. I refused to see the movie on principle because I couldn't fathom KR in the role. This actor is more credible as John to me. Nice to see some callbacks to some supporting characters, and I am cautiously optimistic about how they'll handle Newcastle. The effects are just enough so far for me and the last scene was cool and made me slightly nostalgic for the DC comic books I had collected as a teen ( AND THAT MY MUM FOUND AND THREW AWAY NO IM NOT OVER IT). 

Relieved they sort of wrote out Liv AKA supernatural Mary Sue although I won't mind seeing her once in a while, and I'm OK with Harold Perrineau's angel although I'm a bit overloaded on annoying angels due to SN's never-ending angel story lines. 

 

I LOLed a little in my heart thinking about what might happen if John and Castiel ( Supernatural) ever met. They could try on each other's wardrobe for size ;)

[Puffaroo]

I'm confused about Liv...

 

Didn't the preview at the end show her back again, or was I hallucinating?

[scmill]

OK, so per a couple of references upthread, that was Dickie Bennett, then.  I thought I recognized him under that hair.  He was the only interesting part, and I don't think I'll watch any more episides.  Pity because the lead character was rather hot.

Edited October 25, 2014 by scmill

[Morrigan2575]

I'm confused about Liv...

 

Didn't the preview at the end show her back again, or was I hallucinating?

The preview showed

a different girl, the one that was drawing images of Constantine

[snowblossom2]

Because that is exactly what happened in the comics. As I said previously, the show is giving us a very sanitized version of what happened at Newcastle. In the comics, Astra was the daughter of an Alistair Crowley type figure who was horrifically sexually abused and called down a demon to kill her tormentors during a sex-magic orgy that she was at the center of. That demon proceeded to rape and rip apart her parents and everyone at the orgy. John was filled with his own arrogance about being powerful magician and thought that he could control the demon that he was summoning. He obviously couldn't and Astra was dragged to Hell as the price for John's arrogance (and for the sin of summoning a demon herself, even if her actions were in self-defense).

John would be the first to admit that it was a stupid idea. Which is why he punished himself by being committed (in the comic he wasn't willingly committed and spent his time at Ravenscar being tortured by the staff who thought that he murdered Astra). And why he now mocks his title of "Master of the Dark Arts". His knowledge and skill as a magician are very hard won.

I can understand why those who are only familiar with the KR film would be confused by the portrayal of John here. Those of us who read the comics and then saw the KR film were frustrated because the character was such a complete departure from the way John is portrayed in the comics. The tv series is keeping the characterization much closer to the comic,

where John was known by nicknames like "The Laughing Magician" and a "Rake at the Gates of Hell". John was known for his dark, sharp wit that insulted everyone, used people rather ruthlessly because he saw the big picture (and accepted that there was no way to win the war against Heaven and Hell (who he saw equally as enemies of humanity) without collateral damage.

The clunkiest parts of the episode were when John was trying to explain things to Liv (and the audience) and it's hard when you have a source as rich as the Hellblazer comics are to get the tv audience up to speed about the basics in an hour. And I appreciated the subtle use of special effects and showing that real magic is rooted in the will of the magician and not flashing lights and CGI effects.

Thank you for this - it explains a lot. I know that the show can only do so much in an hour premier, but this explanation needed to be made more explicit

[Grammaeryn]

Well, I liked it and will stick around. Liv going away will definitely help - I didn't like her. I was distracted by her 80's hair. Yeah, Supernatural has really spoiled a lot of demon/possession rituals. I could have sworn Liv had a circle of salt outside her door. Of course the devil's trap is very familiar. I did like how in one of the incantations John banished the demon by invoking the cross and Star of David, the bit I could make out. Constantine is kind of a combination of Castiel and Crowley

[Terrafamilia]

I know it was the pilot/premiere but it still felt too by the numbers.

Dingy, roach infested mental institution where people get electroshock therapy without benefit of any anesthesia.

Check.

Grizzled (anti)hero with a craptacular backstory.

Check.

Atmospheric underground lair stocked with intriguing stuff you can look at but not touch. (who pays the utilities?)

Check.

Hello, Helmet of Nabu! About the only pleasant surprise of the entire episode.

A conspicuously dusty tome of forgotten lore. We know it was dusty because John thoughtfully blew it in the general direction of the camera. Said tome is one of those that conveniently contains the info they need on the demon of the week.

Check.

Send me an angel. Was this a heavenly messenger of hope, encouragement and wonder, or an imposing and awe-ful being whose mere presence could cause a hardened warrior pee his pants? No. It's one of those jerkass angels.

Check.

One could probably go on

 

I never followed the comic except to realized it likely wouldn't be my cup of tea. If this show is more faithful to the comic than the movie the way people are saying it is (except for the smoking) then it probably won't either.

[Slovenly Muse]

I agree the character of Liv was not the most well-conceived, but I'm not inclined to blame the actress. Lucy Griffiths is great; she's actually the reason I watched the pilot! She's been excellent in other things. I think it's just the writing/direction/concept of the character that didn't work. But I would love to see her come back sometime when she is more skilled and knowledgeable and can be treated like a real character instead of an audience surrogate to exposition at. Also, for a British actress, her American accent was spot on.

 

I think I enjoyed the show. There was so much going on in this pilot it was hard to put it all together! But I'm willing to give it a chance and see what it becomes as it smooths out the bumps.

[valjane]

I wanted to like this, but I'm not sure. Something about the pacing felt off--things moved too quickly. The whole thing seemed a little cheesy to me. It kind of reminded me of Reaper, which was a CW show about a guy who lost his soul to the devil and has to go around bounty hunting evil spirits. Only that show was a comedy, and I'm not sure Constantine is supposed to be.

Edited October 26, 2014 by valjane

[merylinkid]

I never read the comic.   I did see the movie but it made little impression on me.  So this stands on it own for me.   Is it good Friday night entertainment?   Yes.   Waaaay better than Dracula last year.  

[Zahdii]

Haven't seen the movie or read the comics.  The show's a bit dark for me, but I plan to watch again.  We'll see how it goes.

 

Constantine is yummy.  I didn't mind Liv at all.  I'm thinking of researching to see why his friend is such a 'survivor'.  Angel guy's got attitude.

[shrewd.buddha]

When I realized this was going to be on at 10pm on Fridays, I thought "Well, they really aren't expecting much from this show .." - so I recorded it to watch later.

 

It was .... okay .. but it felt neither scary nor very suspenseful. I think it was either the pacing or direction. And the main character's flippant attitude about everything sort of made me feel the same way. Sleepy Hollow does this type of atmospheric thing way better. 

 

I will be catching up for a few more episodes before cutting it loose  -- maybe things will get better.

Edited October 26, 2014 by shrewd.buddha

[seamusk]

I was disappointed. Though I think I sort of expected to be.  I'm not sure the material here is right for me.  I love supernatural, fantastical elements, but nothing grabbed me here.  In a lot of ways, I thought the show needed to slow down.  It tried to explain a lot in the pilot, but why did it have to?  It seemed to me that the events in the pilot could have happened over a, let's say, three episode arc.  And there could have been more genuine character moments.  Just a little too much exposition I guess. I'll watch the second episode but I may just be a bit TVd out anyhow.  Watching a lot right now with all of these new fantastical shows happening all the time.

[thuganomics85]

Finally saw it; I guess it was OK for a pilot.  I really don't watch anything else on Fridays, so since this is following Grimm, I'll probably stick with it for now.  My only experience with the franchise is through what I've heard: it's a comic book series and there was a film a few years back starring Keanu Reeves, that got mixed reviews (biggest positive I heard was that Tilda Swinton pretty much stole the show.)

 

I thought Matt Ryan was pretty good as the lead.  The anti-hero character has pretty much been done to death, but I thought he had enough charm and swagger, to make Constantine fun to watch.  I actually remember Ryan from that Criminal spin-off years back, but he also voiced the lead character from the fourth Assassin's Creed video-game, and he really sounded a lot like that character.  Harold Perrineau seemed to be having fun as the angel; way more fun then he did on his episode of Z Nation.  The Chas character was kind of cool, but I hope we get more of the Jeremy Davis character.

 

As for Liv, eh, I've seen worse and I didn't hate her, but I did think she was kind of a bore.  Lucy Griffith wasn't bad, but I found her stiffer compared to the only other thing I've ever seen her in (True Blood), so I wonder if it's another case of faking an American accent making an actor/actress sound bland.  I guess I don't blame them for dropping the character, but at least she's still alive, so the option is open to bring her back.

 

As usual, it did have the typical pilot issues, like a lot of talking and exposition, and a few developments and questions still needing to be answered.  Hopefully, they'll figure all that out.

 

There were some decent jump scares, which is rare for me, so it does have that going for it.

[justmehere]

I'm not sure whether I want to watch this series or not. I thought the pilot was engaging, and I liked Matt Ryan, but it might be just the other side of my tolerance for horror and creepiness, which is admittedly pretty low. No movies (I did see the Constantine movie, however, and liked it overall), no Hannibal, no American Horror Story. Supernatural occasionally goes too far for me (torture, namely) -- although their presentation somehow makes most things into an obvious effect without spoiling the story -- and I enjoy Sleepy Hollow (even there, there's the occasional ick factor). When Constantine wasn't completely freaking me out with the possession stuff (so much worse than Supernatural), I enjoyed it. And, it was great to see Harold Perrineau and Jeremy Davies, so I don't know. I'll probably watch at least once more to see what the general tone is likely to be.

[Rahul]

Wow. So bad on so many different levels. Constantine's pilot made Gotham look like an Emmy contender.

I cannot believe NBC cancelled Dracula for this dreck.

[Biosynth]

I liked it.  *shrugs*.  I liked the main Character and the actor who plays him.  I thought the story was good for an intro story.  I'll stick with it.  It is my cup of tea. 

 

My husband was a rabid fan of Hellblazer and talked to me a lot about it.  He seemed to think it was ok.  I think I liked it better than he did.

 

I'll stick with it.  And yes, I agree, the actor who plays Constantine is yummy. 

[HalcyonDays]

Wow. So bad on so many different levels. Constantine's pilot made Gotham look like an Emmy contender.

I cannot believe NBC cancelled Dracula for this dreck.

 

I liked it actually. Twisted but interesting and very creepy. That shot of the body flailing in the bodybag, then going through the windshield - good creep factor. I haven't read the comics and seen bits and pieces of the movie, but think Matt Ryan is a good choice for JC.

 

Dracula took me like 5 episodes to really get into and then I liked it. The costume porn helped also! This show was better at grabbing me sooner than later.

[jaytee1812]

I'm just catching up on this now. Not sure if I like it yet, it looks so far like women are there to be rescued, lectured and wear very little, but I'm assured it gets better.

What is up with Matt Ryan's accent? It sounds like he's trying to put on an English accent and he's dreadful at it because his own accent keeps slipping through.

[darkestboy]

Just watched the pilot episode. I liked it. Not as much as Gotham and The Flash but enough.

 

For starters, unlike the Keanu Reeves movies, this felt like Constantine and Matt Ryan is actually pretty great in the role.

 

It's a shame that Liv wasn't kept on beyond this episode (a little odd too actually) but I think they did a good job with her story and interactions with Constantine.

 

They also did a good job with the easter eggs and characters such as Manny, Chas and Ritchie too for good measure.

 

Some decent visuals and dark moments too, 7/10